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Aberdeen-Angus cattle

A Rare Breed of Scottish Origin

Champion Scottish-type Aberdeen-Angus bull from the early 20th century.

      For almost a hundred years, the name Aberdeen-Angus was familiar to most New Zealanders as one of our two premier beef cattle breeds.

      Historically, the Aberdeen-Angus was developed in the Scottish counties of Aberdeen and Angus in the northeast of Scotland during the early nineteenth century. A black polled breed, it was a much modified descendant of the original black Celtic cattle of the area, with an infusion of blood from animals introduced by Norse invaders. Its original purpose was to supply the English beef markets, but it quickly spread throughout the world, arriving in New Zealand in 1863. These first arrivals here were a bull and three cows imported by the Australian and New Zealand Land Company to Southland. Following more importations, the Company established New Zealand’s first Aberdeen-Angus stud at Totara in North Otago in the 1880s.

Purebred Aberdeen Angus Bull, 627/89 (Photo by Helen Mackenzie, 1993)

      These original animals were a small, short and stout breed, not dissimilar to those we know today as the » Australian Lowline and this type was retained in New Zealand until the 1950s.

      However, with the swing towards a demand for fat-free meat from beasts with leaner carcasses, the Aberdeen-Angus in New Zealand underwent a radical change in type from the 1960s.

      New Zealand animals were crossed throughout the country with imported Angus bloodlines, mostly of larger animals. The result was the disappearance of the original Scottish type Aberdeen-Angus and the development of a taller, rangier breed simply called Angus – or New Zealand Angus.

Purebred Aberdeen Angus bull, Pinebank 41/97

      There is only one herd left now in New Zealand which claims to be of pure Scottish blood – this is the Pinebank herd in Masterton, part of Waigroup Angus. This historical herd was started in 1919 with animals that could be traced back to the Australian and New Zealand Land Company’s original imports to New Zealand.

      The Pinebank herd was closed in 1967 and contains no American blood. It now represents an important relic population of our farming history. Semen from top Pinebank bulls is now being exported world wide in what would appear to be a trend towards returning to the original Scottish type Angus.

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